Ensuring a Sustainable Future

Jody Heymann is Dean and Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Heymann was the Founding Director of the Institute for Health and Social Policy at McGill University and the Project on Global Working Families at Harvard University. She is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and held a Canada Research Chair in Global Health and Social Policy. Heymann established and leads the WORLD Policy Analysis Centre, the first global initiative to examine social policy in all 193 UN nations. This initiative provides an in-depth look at how social and environmental policies affect the ability of individuals, families and communities to meet their health and welfare needs across the political, economic and social spectrum worldwide. Magda Barrera works at McGill University's Institute for Health and Social Policy conducting comparative research on how to effectively improve social conditions in an economically sustainable manner. She has co-led a fellowship program designed to examine policies and programs around the world on topics such as urban sustainability and environmental equity.

• Introduction ; The Environment and the Economy: Finding Equitable and Effective Solutions ; Jody Heymann and Magda Barrera ; Section 1: Moving Forward on the Environment and the Economy: Creating Jobs, Building Healthy Communities ; Chapter 1 ; The Essential Connection: Environmental Sustainability, Community Stability and Equitable Development in Struggling Cities in High-Income Countries ; Ted Howard ; Chapter 2 ; Community Action in Informal Settlements: Strategies for Improved Environmental Health and Equity in Low and Middle Income Countries ; David Satterthwaite ; Chapter 3 ; Achieving Environmental Equity: Race, Place, and the Movement to Build Healthy Communities in the United States ; Angela Glover Blackwell ; Chapter 4 ; Building Income and Social Equity through Environmental Sustainability: Lessons from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside ; Mitra Thompson ; Chapter 5 ; New Skills for the Green Economy: Two Training Programs for Job Seekers in the United States ; Cosmin Paduraru and Kara Quennell ; Chapter 6 ; Green Social Entrepreneurship as a Poverty-Reduction Strategy: TIDE India's Use of Technological Innovation for Healthier and More Sustainable Communities ; Shannon Lockhart ; Section 2: Addressing Specific Environmental Challenges in an Economically Sustainable Way ; Chapter 7 ; Moving Towards Sustainable Urban Transport: How Can We Integrate Environmental, Health and Equity Objectives Globally? ; David Banister and James Woodcock ; Chapter 8 ; The New Challenges of Rapid Urban Growth: Imperatives and Strategies for Transport in India ; Madhav Badami ; Chapter 9 ; Healthy and Sustainable Agriculture: Working with Farmers to Transform Food Production in Latin America ; Donald Cole, Gordon Prain and Willy Pradel ; Chapter 10 ; Access to Healthy Foods in Urban Settings: A Comprehensive Strategy for Low-income Communities in Montreal ; Lise Bertrand ; Chapter 11 ; Water for Development: Investing in Health and Economic Wellbeing Globally ; William Cosgrove and Hakan Tropp ; Chapter 12 ; The Potential of Clean Energy for Equity in Remote Communities in the North ; Tim Weis ; Chapter 13 ; Remote Indigenous Populations and Climate Change: Reducing the Impacts on Health and Wellbeing ; James Ford and Peter Adams

"Ensuring a Sustainable Future addresses the nexus of development, environment, and health with a fundamental concern for the well-being and agency of the poor. A valuable resource for solutions spanning both rich and poor countries that are evidence-based, equitable, and economically feasible." -- Mayra Buvinic, Senior Fellow, UN Foundation"While not shying away from the enormity of our economic inequities and ecological depredations, this well-structured collection focuses on cautiously optimistic alternatives. Its strength lies in fascinating and well-documented cases of grassroots eco-equity for health, a reservoir of transferable innovations begging to be scaled up. Both tonic and challenging, the book makes a solid contribution to understanding and acting upon the two most pressing publichealth issues of our era: social justice and environmental sustainability." -- Ronald Labonté, Canada Research Chair, Globalization and Health Equity